Surface measurement apparatuses have been limited in use with artifacts and valuable art subjects because of methods that require physical contact. Most curators of art objects will not allow laser beams to contact surfaces, whether for topographical measurement (beamed or pulsed) or any other purpose.
Current optical measurement apparatuses may involve shadowing of the light beam or obstruction of the sensor's view due to features associated with the surface of the object to be measured and eventually packaged. Additionally, present systems require operators skilled in the art of computer aided design (CAD) to manually recreate surfaces that appear as shadows, gaps, or voids due to the non-reflectivity of transparent objects such as glass items.
Further, present systems for measuring and packaging precious objects provide “overlaps” created by moving the object or the measurement system in an arc around the object. Movement of either the object or system creates several planes around the object. This multiplicity of planes requires additional significant time by the CAD operator to define a single plane in order to create the proper tool path for a two part enclosure.
Also, present measuring systems possess single or dual laser measurement devices to create the measurement points. Single and dual laser systems require focusing on all aspects of the object or the object must be rotated in order to allow for providing adequate measurements around all necessary convex surfaces.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,544,921 and 5,745,666 to Gilley, et. al, describes a computer implemented method of displaying a three-dimensional model having one or more surfaces and mapping an array of grid points and applying a contouring function to the array.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,862 to Kacyra, et. al, describes an apparatus for imaging and modeling three dimensional objects using an imaging module for emitting a laser beam for scanning the surface of a remote object and recording data points corresponding to the points on the surface of the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,523 to Kacyra, et. al, describes a pulsed laser beam and a means for generating a point cloud based upon the measured time delays and angle measurements with the point cloud being a plurality of data points that each represents a location of a corresponding point on the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,849 to Dimsdale, et. al, describes a method for fitting a point cloud representing a corner using fitting algorithms to determine the three planes of the corner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,468 to Dimsdale, et. al, describes a laser calibration system where a single optical fiber of known length is used to determine the time it takes for a laser beam to be emitted and detected from a reflected surface at a known distance and comparatively analyzed against the known length to determine an adjusted length translating into a distance measurement.
U.S. Patent Application 20030117411A1 to Fujiwara, et. al., describes a texture mapping method that utilizes calculating a mapping value by means of a weighted average to fill gaps and voids in the point cloud obtained when scanning a surface of an object. Gaps and voids are systematically detected and point clouds are mathematically created to anticipate the representative topography of the object.
U.S. Patent Application 20040051720A1 to Hall, et. al., describes a method for a customer to measure and define an objects topography and provide computer data to an offsite location. The data is then manipulated into providing a cutting file for a computer numerical control robotic tool that provides manufacturing capability for a generic model of the customer's product.
PCT Patent Application WO04044689A3 to Yau, et. al., describes a mathematical method for recognizing and analyzing a geometric surface and calculating conforming corresponding surfaces using recognized geometric shapes.
Chinese Patent Number 86102666A to Wang, Yanying, describes a three step process using digital mapping, autotracking and autocutting to manufacture reproductions of original pieces of art without the necessity of artists.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,328 to Bontrager, Rick, describes a hinged blank formed to act as a cushion to protect a fragile part for shipping comprising a block of material shaped to conform to the shape of the part. The cutout foam is linear and comprises V features that allow it to be folded and conform to various size objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,473 to Bontrager, Rick, describes a method of forming a single piece of polyurethane foam packing from a blank by using a cutting die. This is a divisional patent of U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,473.
European Patent Number 0477620A3 to Williams, Earnest, describes a protector for protecting or supporting fragile articles produced by cutting from resilient material, in slab or sheet form, the members being interfitted so as to extend around the article or articles. The protector includes members which, when assembled together, conform interiorly in part at least to the surface profile of the article or articles to be protected.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,055 to Lacy III, describes a package for delicate items having a hinged base with a cavity with base side flanges that surround the item and are hinged to each other and a cover engageable with the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,900 to Ceaser, et. al., describes a bore making apparatus to form blocks of foam using resistive heating elements to cut the material. Each forming member is set to a cross sectional shape and aligned in an array.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,685 to Graham, et. al., describes a process for making containers for fragile items and automatically inserting items into the containers. It pertains to a cardboard box shaping machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,079 to Dimsdale, et. al., describes a method of measuring an object by segmenting the field of scanned points into scalar values and then converting the scalar values into binary data and applying recursive techniques to create an image. This application is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,862.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,518 to Dimsdale, et. al., describes a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,079 wherein an area of a computer generated image may be chosen and selectively refined as to create a preferred image. This application is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,862.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,771,840 and 6,804,380 to Ioannou, et. al., describes an apparatus for defining a first set of seed points used to display a feature and subsequent seed points to further use in triangulation in order to create measurements and three dimensional images. Further definition includes a computer for identifying and generating points and determining a tie-point target for generating an image.
U.S. Patent Application 20030065689A1 to Asai, et. al., describes a method for creating images using a Riemannian manifold to perform an approximation of where the points would be and constructing an image based on these points.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,683 to Kacyra, et. al., describes a method for operating a laser scanner, scanning to create a field survey which has a number of scan points identifying the corresponding points of interest. This application is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,406,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,640 to Miramonti, et. al., describes a digital scanner with a color detector responsive to a broad band of visible light. It is operated through a computer and selective points are interrogated on an object, colors analyzed and a 3D image is generated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,822 to Sinclair, et. al., describes an apparatus for digitizing an object and creating a 3D image using planar sheets of light and analyzing the angles created to define contours of the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,401 to Addleman, et. al., describes an apparatus for illuminating a surface, moving the surface in relation to a scanning device, determining the position of the points along the surface and computer generating a contoured image of the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,288 to Migdal, et. al., describes a system that generates a light stripe on an object and intersecting points on the contour are measured via triangulation to create a representative 3-D computer generated image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,249 to Kofman, et. al., describes a method of obtaining 3-D data from an object by overlapping views and providing computational information to provide for transformations into a common reference frame.